Indigo Skies
by EvilGenius666
Summary: Alex is a trainer from Celadon City heading out on his very own Pokémon journey which will take him all across Kanto, meeting new friends, both Pokémon and Human alike, and following his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.
1. A Birthday Wish

Alex's father hadn't come home again last night. It wasn't unusual for him to spend weeks without making an appearance, but Alex felt that now of all times he should have been here. Tomorrow would be Alex's 10th birthday, but any hope he had felt that his father would honour the tradition of giving his son his first Pokémon was fading fast.

Alex was a tall boy for his age, and had lost his puppy fat early on, leaving him somewhat resembling the Bellsprout found in such abundance in the local Gym. He lived in Celadon City, home of Erika and her Gym specialising in everything Grass-type, and where she produced her world-famous perfumes which ensured that she had just as many visitors as challengers, and made Celadon into a haven for shoppers. The gigantic department store also attracted its fair share of visitors, all searching for the best bargains on the rarest of items.

However, there was another building that the city was famous for, and it was this that Alex despised above all else for taking his father from him. It was the Celadon Gaming Corner, and his father was completely addicted to gambling. He would spend days at a time without leaving the slots, returning home only when he had run out of crisps and soda. At first, it had simply been a small distraction to kill an hour or so after work, but he began spending more and more time at the place, flushing his money down the drain. He lost his job at the Dept. Store after missing work for the third time in a week, but rather than sobering him up, it had simply removed the only reason he had had to leave the Game Corner. He now did nothing but gamble, and whatever he won, it was almost guaranteed to be lost again by the end of the day.

* * *

Dawn broke on the morning of Alex's birthday to find his father groggily staggering in the general direction of home, clutching his treasured coin case tight to his chest. Although they lived no more than 20 minutes away from the Game Corner, his sleep-deprived state, and the occasional delirious hallucination that a terrace of three houses in a row had started pouring money out of the gutter, it would take him several hours to meander his way back.

Alex awoke to the sound of his Pidgey alarm clock cooing at him. Quickly slapping it off, he got up and dressed, trying to find a shirt to go with the five pairs of trousers he had tripped over on his way to the wardrobe. Continuing his morning routine, engraved into his body's memory, he was halfway through his cereal before waking up enough to realise what day it was. He was now ten years old, and technically old enough to own his first Pokémon and start on his dream of becoming a Pokémon master. The silence from the rest of the house, however, told him that his father still hadn't returned from the slots. He finished his breakfast alone, silently singing himself a happy birthday, and began clearing up the bowl, when a click, followed by a dull thud, announced his father's return. He went to the door to help his dad off the floor and onto the sofa, and started watching TV to pass the time until his father regained consciousness.

It was well past noon before Alex's father showed any signs of life, slowly getting himself upright, although still very clearly suffering from his latest gambling trip. Standing up, he made an unsteady search of the house for some food, then when he had eaten, went back to wake up Alex, who had dozed off in front of the TV. Alex opened his eyes and found himself looking directly up into his father's face. He was fairly young, and still kept traces of his youthful handsomeness, but years of spending days at a time cooped up in front of a slot machine had taken its toll. His once healthy skin was now pale and lined, his mouth drooped at the edges, and his eyes, which had been so bright, were now sunken and bloodshot. However, right now Alex could see genuine love in those eyes, and without a word, his father produced a small package from behind his back and handed it to him. Alex slowly began to open it, savouring the waves of anticipation rolling over him. He made a rip in the wrapping, and saw a patch of red shining out at him. Trying again further down, he saw a gleam of white. Hardly daring to believe what it appeared to be, he unwrapped the whole thing, and found himself holding a brand new, polished Pokéball. He looked up at his father with tears in his eyes, unable to speak the thanks he felt, but he could see that his father knew what it meant to him.

Alex knew his father would never have been able to capture a Pokémon himself, which meant he must have bought it, but it would have to be something cheap after all his gambling losses… Alex began to think that perhaps it was a Ratatta, like his mother used to have. He remembered playing with it when he was young. It was a good friend, before his mother left. Or maybe a Pidgey? They're very useful for transport when they've evolved a few times. Alex sat staring at the Pokéball, wondering what could be inside it, for several minutes, until his father finally interrupted his daydreams.  
"Well, aren't you going to meet your new Pokémon?" he asked mischievously.  
Surfacing from his reveries, Alex grasped the Pokéball, and slowly opened it.

A red glow escaped from the ball, and began to shape itself tantalisingly slowly. It quickly became much too big for a Ratatta. It formed what looked like wings, but the shape began to elongate, becoming too long for a Pidgey. Alex watched eagerly as it became more and more recognisable, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. In all his wildest imaginings, he had never expected this. The shape stopped changing, and as the glow died away, the true colours showed through. He stared at the Pokémon sitting before him, completely dumbstruck. He looked up at his father again, and saw his eyes filled with proud tears, enjoying his son's joy almost as much as Alex himself. How he had managed to afford this, Alex could not begin to guess, but he could tell that it had cost his father everything he had. He stood and embraced his father.  
"I love you Dad"


	2. Hello, Goodbye

A Dratini! His father had given him a Dratini!

Alex watched as it turned its small blue head this way and that, taking in its surroundings. Hugging his father one more time, he knelt down beside it. Its bright eyes looked into his and immediately they both felt a connection. The Dratini jumped up and curled itself around Alex's shoulders, and its gentle weight felt strangely reassuring, as if something had been missing for his whole life until that moment.  
"I think she likes you," laughed Alex's father. "The men at the store said she was very shy. So much for that, eh?"  
"She's perfect!" Alex beamed as she mewed softly and rubbed his cheek. Turning to look at his father, he added, "Dad? I think I want to call her Tina." He had no idea where that had come from, barely even remembering his mother. To him, she was simply a feeling of betrayal in his gut. Alex's mother had put up with his father's gambling for too long, and eventually, it just became too much. She walked out, leaving her husband to his addiction, and her son alone.  
A twinge of regret flashed in his father's eyes, but he replied, "Of course son. She certainly has the same friendly spark as your mother…"

From that birthday, Alex and Tina never spent more than a few hours apart. He would rarely recall her to her Pokéball, preferring to leave her in her favourite position, coiled around his shoulders. For the next month, Alex did very little other than sit around the house playing with Tina, barely even noticing that his father had returned to his seemingly endless stints at the slots. However, he couldn't fail to see that each time he saw his father from then on, he looked more and more unhealthy, more so than ever before, and he had developed a strange haunted, almost paranoid look in his eyes, as if he expected at any moment to be set upon by the very walls themselves.

* * *

As far as Alex was concerned, it was just like any other day. He got up, got dressed and had breakfast while Tina grudgingly awoke from her sleep. They spent the morning messing about in the house, playing hide and seek or tag, and had an early lunch when they had exhausted themselves. Alex had heard that there was going to be a match at the Gym that afternoon and, always enjoying the intensity of an official league match, he planned to go and watch. He was just about to leave when suddenly his father burst through the front door, almost knocking him over. As he cannoned past, Alex saw that the paranoia had gone from his eyes, replaced by a wild panic that he had never seen affect anyone before. Alex's father hurriedly began bolting the door, but it was already too late. No sooner had he reached the door, than a heavy knock boomed through the house.  
"We know you're in there Mr. Martin!" shouted a deep voice from outside. "Don't make us come in ourselves."  
Alex's father sat with his back against the door, his breathing accelerating to a panicked wheeze. He heard the voice say something that sounded alarmingly like "Break it down," and only just managed to move out of the way before the door smashed in two with a deafening crash. A mountain of a man in a black jumpsuit, emblazoned with a large red letter 'R', stepped through the door as the splinters embedded themselves into the walls and furniture, closely followed by another two equally large and identically attired brutes. Looking around the room, the first man picked Alex's father up by the collar.  
"You really thought you could miss another payment and get away with it?"  
"I-I-I tried to get the money, but I didn't have enough tim-", Alex's father began, only to be interrupted by a roar of "Silence!" from the Rocket Grunt.  
"We gave you plenty of time. All you did was gamble all the money away. i_Our/i_ money. You've had your last chance and you blew it. You i_are/i_ going to pay us back, even if you have to work for us for the rest of your life." And with that, he turned and left, dragging Alex's father along behind him, quickly disappearing into the crowded streets.  
The other two, clearly under previous orders, began systematically removing everything of value inside the house. Everything from the TV to the silverware went, but the men still weren't satisfied.  
"Not even close," chuckled one to the other, "he'll be working for Team Rocket for a i_long/i_ time."

Throughout the whole incident, Alex stood in shock, completely ignored by everyone but too stunned to react. After the Rockets finally left, he staggered through the ransacked house, aghast at the desolation he found. The men had taken everything, leaving Alex in a barren shell of a building with nothing but the clothes on his back. He found that he had wandered into his father's bedroom, but the only sign that it had ever been occupied was a dark patch on the wall where a picture of Alex and both his parents had protected it from fading in the light. Why Team Rocket had taken something with as little monetary worth as that picture was beyond Alex, but slowly returning to his senses, the sight of the empty wall ignited a spark of anger in him. Three strangers had broken down the door, kidnapped his father and gutted the house, and he'd just stood there. He hadn't even moved to try and stop them! He dreamed of becoming a Pokémon master, but no trainer would ever have let someone walk in and destroy their life without a fight. Memories of the past month flashed through Alex's mind – playing with Tina, running around the house, taking walks around the block – but he had not one of actually training her. She was still just as inexperienced as they day she first came out of her Pokéball. Realising that he had wasted so much time up to then, he vowed to train as hard as he could, so that ext time he met Team Rocket, he could fight.

Throughout the whole incident, Alex stood in shock, completely ignored by everyone but too stunned to react. After the Rockets finally left, he sank to his knees in the desolation that the house had become. The men had taken everything, leaving Alex in a barren shell of a building with nothing but the clothes on his back. Tina mewed comfortingly from around his shoulders, but it was no help. He was still too dazed even to cry. His father had often been absent, but Alex had always known where he was, and that he would return eventually, but now, for the first time in his life, Alex felt truly alone.


End file.
